Floating air liner



June"24,' 1930. s. M. LINDSTRAND FLOATING AIR LINER Filegi April 9, 19282 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY INVEN OR June 24, 19 30. s. M. LINDSTI RAND1,766,915

FLOATING A'IR LINER Filed April 9, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2VIIIIIIIIIIIYI-MIIIII A 5W4 rz L/A ZJST/RQ/VD I INVENTOR A 270 mm YPatented June 24, 1930 untrue STATES SWAN M LINDSTBAND, F CHICAGO,ILLINOTS FLOATING AIR L lian Application filed April 9, 1928., SerialNo, 268,438,

This invention relates to improvements in a floating air liner, and hasfor one of its principal objects, the provision of means forfacilitating the handling of a large type airplane, when in flight, suchas would be used for trans-Atlantic or trans-continental air travel.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide a pluralmeans for controlling the elevation and depression of the plane, thesaid means comprising a pair of independently operated elevatorspositioned at the forward and rearward ends of the plane.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of anelevator control mechanism which eliminates to a great extout thetransmission of shocks and the like from the elevators to the operatorscontrol,

more particularly, a system of indirectly operated elevators. With thismeans of indirectly controlling the elevators in normal flying, thetensenessof the operators grip upon the elevator control is greatlyrelieved.

" Smoother riding necessarily results from this stabilized means ofcontrol, which is a very important consideration in passenger andfreight air transportation.

A further important object of this invenof floating is merely an addedsafety measure in case a forced landing is to be made on water.

Another and further important object of the invention is to provide aplurality of sectional fuel tanks which will prevent an abnormalshifting of the weight of the liquid fuel when the plane is in aposition other than horizontal.

Other and further important objects of the invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the accompanying drawings and followingspecification.

The invention, in a preferred form, is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings:

tion, is the provision of a buoyant fuselage construction which permitsa safe landing to bemade on water. It is to be understood, this is not ahydro-airplane, but the feature Figure 1' is a side elevation of theairplane of thisinvention, illustrating the positioning of the elevatorsupon the fuselage.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of thedevice shown in Figure 1, portions ofthe mainwing being broken away;

Figure 3 is a front view of the airplane.

Figure 4: is a partial sectional elevation, showing the separate controlmeans for the front and rear elevators.

Figure" 5 is an end sectional view of the control cockpit.

Figure 6 is a top view of the elevator conlrol mechanism. v

Figure 7 is a detail sectional View of one of the elevator operatingdrums.

\ As shown in the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally the fuselage of an improvedair liner,

the front end of which is supported by a forward landing gear andaccompanying wheels 12, the cmpennage or rear end of the fuselage beingalso supported by a rear landing gear 14. The fuselage 10 is constructedwater-tight and provides a floating means in case the machine is forceddown while flying over water. The forward end of the fuselage terminatesin a bullet-shaped nose, thereby decreasing air resistance in flight.Mounted on the rear extremity of the body 10 is a rudder 16 of theordinary construction. Q

Positioned upon the upper portion of the fuselage is a flying wing 18 ofthe established aerofoil construction, and a cabin 20 for theaccommodation of a plurality of passengers and the pilot, islocatedimmediately beneath the wing and forms part of the fuselage. Mounted infront of the wing 18, and with one positioned on each side of thefuselage 10 is a pair of tractor motors 22 and their accompanyingpropellers 24. Directly behind the motors 22 and at the rear of the wing18 are two pusher motors 26 and their companion propellers 28. Themotors 22 and 26 are mounted between braces 30 and 32 and extensions 34.

It is apparent that a plane equiped with this number of motors would becapable of carrying a great amount of weight, hence a lar 'e number of)assen ers could be accommouated and inasmuch an abundant supply of fuelcould be also carried, the planes cruising range would be veryextensive. A

. large tank, when climbing or descending the shifting of the fuel inthe tank might cause an undesirable concentration of weight at eitherend of the tank, thereby tending to unstabilize the ship. But with thesectional tank when .the plane if in a position other than horizontalthe troublesome shifting of the fuel weight is eliminated. Pivotallymounted upon the forward and rearward portions of the fuselage, is a setof elevators a2 and 4a respectively. Each set comprises a pair ofplanes, one mounted on each side of the fuselage, the elevators 42 beinghinged at their forward edge to the element &6 and the rear elevators44- are similarly hinged at their rearward edge to the element 48.

Rigidly attached at right-angles to the inside end of the rear of theforward elevators a2 and wrapped around a portion of the surface of thesame and adjacent the fuselage is an element a6, the rear portion of thesaid element being shaped in an arc of a circle as shown at Two ends ofacable are attached to the member 48, one end attached at each extremityof the arc.

Positioned adjacent the member 48 and adapted to make rolling contactwith the curved surface thereof is a drum 52. ends of the cable 50 areattached to the said drum, and the cable is wrapped several times aroundthe drum and then around the convex surface of the element 48, so thatwhen the drum is rotated the cable winds on one side of the drum andunwinds on the other side.

Hence the element l8 is moved substantially vertically either up or downas the case may be, thus lowering or raising the ends of the elevatorson both sides of the fuselage, the two drums co-acting through themedium of a connecting shaft 54.

A similar construction exists with respect to the rear elevators 4a withthe difference that an element 56, corresponding to the element 48, ismounted on the forward portion of the. elevator and co-acts with a drum58. Means for rotating the drums 52 and 58,

comprise two independently operated shafts and 62 respectively. Mountedon the shaft I 60 is a worm wheel 64 which in turn operates a gear 66mounted rigidly on the shaft 54. Mounted on the shaft 62 is another wormwheel 68 which operates a gear 70 rigidly positioned on ashaft 72..Vrapped upon the Both shaft 72 and a rear drum shaft 74 is a pair ofconnecting cables 76. It is upon this rear shaft 74 that the drums 58are mounted.

Mounted on the inner end of the shaft 60 is a pinion gear 78 and alsomounted upon the inner end of the shaft 62 is a like pinion 80. Thepinion 80 is operated by a gear 82 which is mounted on one end of ahollow shaft 84, upon the other end of which is an operators handwheel86. The pinion 78 is operated by a gear 88 mounted on one end of a shaft90 which is rotatably positioned inside the shaft 84, and upon the otherend of which is a handwheel 92. Both wheels turn independently andthrough the respectively associated mechanisms of each, the elevators 42and a l are independently moved up and down, as required.

It is apparent that herein is provided an aircraft whose generalproportions, means of control, safety features ideally adapted it forcommercial passenger travel. The elevator control being such as toeliminate the nerveracking task of piloting a plane for long periods ata time and providing features of safety, ease of operation andstability, requisite to successful air-line travel.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction varied throughout a Wide range without departing from theprinciples of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limitingthe patent granted hereon otherwise than as neccssitated by the priorart.

I claim as my invention:

A floating air-liner, including in combination, a fuselage and a pair ofelevating planes mounted on the front and rear of the fuselage,respectively, and means for separately operating each pair of elevatingplanes, said means comprising a rotatable drum,-a cable wrapped aroundthe drum, the ends of the cable connected to the elevator, and means forsupporting the cable ends, said means including an arcuate member at oneinner corner of I the elevator, a system of gears associated with eachpair of elevators, and manually controlled means for operating eachsystem of gears, said manually controlled means comprising twoindependently rotated handwheels mounted on the same shaft.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature.

SVAN M. LIND STRAND.

